


Lovesick Idiots

by BogAngel



Category: Julie and The Phantoms (TV 2020)
Genre: Awkward Flirting, Band is a family (plus Willie and Flynn), Bros To More Then Bros, Dude (Romantic), Everyone Is Alive, Everyone is trying to get them together, F/F, Fake/Pretend Relationship, Feelings Realization, Flirting, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, Good Parent Ray Molina, Hurt/Comfort, Idiots in Love, Idiots to Idiot Lovers, Jealous Luke Patterson (Julie and The Phantoms), Kissing, M/M, Mutual Pining, Neck Kissing, Oblivious Luke Patterson (Julie and The Phantoms), Oblivious Reggie Peters (Julie and The Phantoms), Reggie is VERY Oblivious, Slow Burn, Supportive Ray Molina, Supportive Yet Tired Friends, Swearing, When I say Idiots in Love I mean it, they are stupid and pining
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-03-16
Updated: 2021-03-23
Packaged: 2021-03-25 01:46:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 11
Words: 16,440
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30081582
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BogAngel/pseuds/BogAngel
Summary: After Reggie makes a slip up with his words, Ray starts believing that him and Luke are dating. When both are unable to tell the man otherwise, the idiotic pair decides it's a wonderful idea to start fake dating for Ray specifically. Unsurprisingly, this doesn't go exactly as planned leading to unexpected feelings and lovesick shenanigans to ensue.
Relationships: Alex Mercer/Willie (Julie and The Phantoms), Flynn/Julie Molina, Luke Patterson/Reggie Peters (Julie and The Phantoms)
Comments: 93
Kudos: 99





	1. Chapter 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, lovely readers! Somehow this fic ended up being the longest thing I've written, so I hope you enjoy it. I'm planning on uploading new chapters every two days (it's all written out - just needs to be edited). Sometimes I will post multiple chapters depending on if the content flows together. 
> 
> Also! I have made a Petterpatter playlist for this fanfiction that you can find with this link: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/3h4zeh3fGTDuTRt0yE62se?si=e2c90a89a2784549

Everyone was sitting around the Molina, excitedly talking about how great the band's performance was that night, after they had eaten a celebratory dinner. Luke was particularly bouncy, complimenting everyone and everything, but he was focusing the energy onto Julie right now. He was basically showering the girl in well deserved praise before her dad walked into the room. 

Ray threw the towel over his shoulder, “As much as I love this energy, guys, it’s almost Carlos' bedtime, so if you could take it to the studio that would be great.” 

There was a yell from Carlos upstairs, “Dad, stop embarrassing me!” 

Ray smiled sheepishly while Julie loudly stated, hoping Carlos could hear her, “He gets grumpy when he doesn’t sleep at his bedtime, so we better get going.” 

Before the gang could start filtering out, Ray stopped, “Wait before you go, anyone want to help out with the dishes? It’ll be fun, I promise!”

“Ooo! I love helping with dishes!” Reggie said, smiling, before his friends all gave him a confused look, “What? Any activity where I get to sit on the counter by default is an insta favorite.”

Everyone shrugged, with a ‘valid’ from Willie, before they started to filter out of the living room. Luke ruffled Reggie’s hair, making him smile, before bounding out with Julie in hand. The pair was practically giggling as they left for the studio Ray watched this, a fond smile growing on his face. 

When Ray headed back into the kitchen, Reggie following him like duckling, he handed the boy a towel before sighing, "Young love sure isn't something, isn't it?" 

"Yea, I guess so, Mr. Molina," he replied while hopping onto the counter. 

"I just wish Julie would talk to me about it," Ray paused for a second, shaking his head as he handed over a plate to dry, "Sorry, you probably don't want to talk about your friends relationships." 

Reggie really should have taken the out of the conversation, but instead he just looked at Ray confused, "Julie's relationship? With who?" 

"Julie and Luke."

"Oh," Reggie laughed, "They're not dating, Mr. Molina.”

Ray squinted his eyes at that, "I don't like assuming things, but.." 

Reggie shrugged, "I totally get it, though, Luke is a pretty affectionate guy! I would know, he kisses me all the time." 

"He what?" Ray looked up from the dish he was washing, eyebrows raising. 

"No, wait, I meant that, you know, he kisses my cheek all the time! Like, you know," he laughed nervously, "As you do." 

"Oh," Ray laughed, giving Reggie a knowing smile, "I see now! You and Luke are the couple of the band, huh?" 

"Wait, what?" Reggie could feel himself go pink, "No, no, you've got it all wrong, Mr. Molina." 

"Oh, sorry, it's a secret. I get it," Ray said, taking the towel from Reggie, "Don't worry, I'll keep it to myself, Reggie. Young love is a beautiful thing after all!" 

"But, no, wa-" 

Ray didn't let Reggie finish before he patted his shoulder with a bright smile, "Thanks for your help, kiddo! You can head out to the studio now. I'll take the dishes over from here." 

In his shock, Reggie walked towards the door before he turned around, "Uh, Ray?" 

He almost, almost corrected Ray. He was going to tell him that him and Luke weren't dating, but, damn it, the man looked so happy that he had been let in on the secret. The man was even beginning to him L-O-V-E under his breath as he turned on the water to wash the dishes. What was Reggie supposed to do? Correct him? That was like if he stole an old man's soup, and he couldn't do that! 

"Thanks for being such a cool dude!" Reggie said before he walked outside. So, now he was here. Standing outside, wondering how in the hell he was going to explain that Ray was under the impression that him and Luke were in some sort of secret relationship. Reggie ran a hand through his hair and sighed. He’d gotten himself into all kinds of weird situations, but this one took the cake.

Taking a deep breath, Reggie headed to the studio where the rest of his friends were. Most importantly, it’s where Luke was. When he got into the studio, he locked his sights on a certain orange beanie. Luke was sitting on the couch in what looked like some sort of heated argument with Flynn, who gestured passionately with her hand that wasn’t interlocked with Julies. 

Reggie, for a second, seriously considered if he should even bring it up to Luke, but decided that if he didn’t then it would somehow still reach Luke. He didn’t want there to be a day in the future where Luke asked him why he told Ray that they were _dating._ He could barely handle the _thought_ of that, let alone have it be reality. 

When Reggie walked up to the three, Flynn immediately looked at him and said, “Reggie! Opinion on mint oreos now!”

“Oh, um, um, they’re cool! I like them,” Reggie responded, slightly thrown off. 

Luke’s mouth dropped, “How could you fucking say that, dude! Mint oreos taste like dirt and toothpaste!” 

Reggie put his hands up in surrender as Flynn shoved Luke, “Ha! See, that’s one more person who likes mint oreos. Looks like you’re the odd one out, you weirdo.” 

“I’m not a weirdo! You guys are the weirdos! Me and Alex just happen to be the only people who have working taste buds in this friends group.” 

Reggie laughed nervously, bouncing on his feet before saying, “Right, uh, Luke! I need to talk to you about something, uh, outside. If you don’t mind.” 

Before Luke could even respond, Reggie turned on his heels and out of the studio. When Luke walked outside with a confused expression, Reggie pulled him over to where he was sure his friends couldn’t hear them. He didn’t exactly think he was ready to handle the amount of teasing he would face when they heard the news. 

“Uh, Reg, what’s going on?” Luke asked, concerned, “You’re making that face you make when you feel bad about something.”

“I’m not-what? What face?” Reggie crossed his arms, furrowing his brows. 

“This face,” Luke frowned exaggeratedly while crossing his arms to mimic Reggie.

“I don’t make th-whatever, man. I sort of did a thing that I didn’t mean to do,” Reggie said, frowning even more than before. 

“Gonna need more than that, dude.” 

Reggie took a deep breath, and he pushed out the words all at once, “So, when I was helping Ray with the dishes he asked if you and Julie were dating, and I said no, right, cause you aren’t, but then he didn't believe me. So, I told him that you kiss my cheek all the time, and now he thinks we’re, like, secret lovers!” 

Luke blinked at him as he processed what Reggie had just spilled to him, “He _what_ now?” 

“Man, he thinks we’re dating!” 

There was a few seconds of silence before Luke started laughing with his whole body. Laughing. Reggie punched his shoulder, “This is not funny, dude! What are we going to do?” 

Luke barely calmed down from laughing as he said, “Reg, how did that even fucking happen? He thinks we’re _boyfriends?_ How?” 

Reggie looked down at his boot, his face heating up from embarrassment, “I might have messed up, and said that you kissed me all the time when what I meant to say is that you kiss _my cheek_ all the time. And he thought I was just being shy or something when I tried to correct myself, man.” 

“Dude,” Luke flicked his head, “Why didn’t you just tell him we weren’t dating?” 

“I-I don’t,” Reggie looked at his friend desperately, “He just looked so happy about it and I couldn’t rip that happiness away from him like some kind of monster!” 

“I don’t think it could be _that_ bad, Reg,” Luke replied, shrugging.

“Alright, then _you_ tell him we’re not dating!”

“I think I will,” Luke poked Reggie’s nose, and Reggie stuck his tongue out at him, “This should be easy.” 

Luke walked towards the house, rolled his eyes and headed in. Reggie sighed and leaned against the stone wall of the stairs. It didn't take long for Luke to come bounding out of the house with slightly wide eyes, "Yea, no, you were right, dude, he was humming Hopelessly Devoted To You and he looked so...happy. I just pretended like I was there for a soda. I-I couldn't do it." 

Reggie pulled the soda out of Luke’s hands before he mocked him, "'This should be easy.' he said."

Luke pouted, "Shut up, dude! It felt like I was about to kick a puppy." 

Nervously drumming his fingers against the soda can, Reggie asked, "What do we do now? Neither of us have the heart to tell Ray we aren't dating, and I don't know about you, but I'm not going to ask Julie to do it for us." 

"Oh, absolutely not. Julie can’t know about this," Luke paused, "We don't spend that much time with Ray, dude, we should be fine, right? As long as Ray doesn't ask Julie about us then she won't find out. And if Ray is around just hold my hand or something." 

Reggie nodded slowly, "So...game plan is to act like a couple around Ray and hope Julie doesn't find out?" 

"Unless you have any better ideas, dude," Luke hoped that Reggie had a better idea. 

He didn't. 

"Yea, I mean how often do we see Ray long enough where we have to act like a couple?" 

"Almost never." 

"And Ray said he would keep my 'secret' relationship with you to himself, so Julie won't find out,” Reggie added thus solidifying their master plan of ‘hold hands around Ray, ignore it and hope it goes away’. 

[line break]

The pair managed to ignore it for about two days until Julie walked into the studio, arms crossed and eyes squinting at them suspiciously. She didn’t look angry exactly, more like she was trying to solve one confusing jigsaw puzzle. 

“Hey,” Julie started rather casually as she walked up to the pair, “My dad wants to throw a movie night for Valentine's day, you know, for all of us.” 

Reggie looked up from the sheet music that Luke was showing him, smiling, “Oh! That sounds so cool. What movie?” 

“He said we could choose whatever movie we wanted, and he’ll set up the projector,” Julie paused, before saying her next words slowly, “He kept asking if you two had other plans for Valentines day....uh, mind telling me why that might be?” 

_Fuck._ So much for Julie not finding out.

Luke and Reggie shared a look, which wasn’t suspicious at all, before the guitarist replied, “Me and Reg are totally free on Valentines day, so I really don’t know why Ray would think otherwise.” 

Julie nodded, pursing her lips, “Right, right. So, you guys have nothing to say about my dad kept talking about you guys like he does Alex and Willie? You know, like you were a couple. Absolutely nothing to say about that?”

“That’s so weird, man, I don’t know why he would do that,” Reggie proceeded to very nervously laugh, “Do you know why he would do that, Luke?” 

“No, I really have no clue, Reg. That’s just so weird! I really can’t imagine what would make him do that,” Luke glared at Reggie for a second, before he smiled back at Julie.

Usually, the two of them were pretty good at coming up with lies to cover each other, but Julie’s suspicious gaze was too hard to fight against. They hated lying to her. She could see right through any of their lies like glass.

She only had to raise a disbelieving eyebrow at their responses to get them to give up the act.

Luke hit Reggie in the back of the head, “Tell her, dork.” 

In all honesty, Reggie would have preferred to be swallowed by a hole in the ground then explain to Julie how her father ended up believing that they were dating. He still told Julie the whole embarrassing story, but that didn’t mean he didn’t want to disappear off the face of the Earth as he did so.

When Reggie was done, Julie stood there, her lip quivering from trying to hold back laughter before she let out what could be best described as a cackle. 

“Oh my god,” Julie said in between her laughs as she doubled over, “This is too good.”

Reggie pouted, “This isn’t funny!” 

“It’s a little funny, Reg,” Luke commented, biting back a smile, which only made Reggie pout more. And Julie was nowhere near calm, still laughing.

“Aw, come on, dude, it’s not that bad,” Luke placed an arm over his friend's shoulder, “Because Julie will help out her best friends in the whole world and tell her dad that we aren’t dating, right?” 

Julie wiped a tear from her eye, taking in a shuttering breathe, “Absolutely not. You guys are on your own for this one, oh my god.”

“What? Why not? Come on, Jules, tell him for us!” Luke looked desperately at Julie, but the girl just smiled at him devilishly. 

“You think I’m going to rip the happiness of being a hopeless romantic away from my own dad? Near Valentine's day? No way. You either tell him yourself, or you keep pretending to date. I’m not getting involved, thank you very much.” Julie didn’t even try to hide how amused she was at this entire situation. 

Reggie, at this point, was hiding his face into Luke’s side, thankful that this was one of his jacket wearing days. Luke continued to try and negotiate with Julie, but Reggie knew that it would get them nowhere.

Julie’s mind was made up, and much to Reggie’s embarrassment, this definitely meant he was going to be Luke’s pretend boyfriend for a Ray Molina Valentines day. _Great._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> f you want to come talk to me or see more of my content, check out my tumblr: @threeghosts-nobraincells


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just a friendly reminder that comments and kudos make my day! Love hearing your thoughts.

Even though Reggie usually had very little self preservation, he still clutched his seat belt whenever he let Luke drive him places. He wasn’t sure why he still got into the car when Luke was in the driver's seat. This was the same person who missed a turn on a busy road and then proceeded to reverse his car to make the turn. Or when he jammed out so hard that he almost slammed the car into metal road dividers. Yea...Reggie wasn’t entirely sure why he even still let Luke get into a car. He didn’t have a license, but he sure as hell knew that none of that was right. 

Either way, Reggie was still getting a ride from Luke, who was currently going what felt like 20 above the speed limit and blasting his ‘rock for lovesick bad boys’ playlist. Luke sang along to the music like his life depended on it, tapping on the steering wheel, as Reggie hummed along quietly. He usually would be singing, but the sharp, body tossing turns Luke was making put Reggie in a less then musical mood. Did driving to Julie’s house always feel this long? 

As the song transitioned, Luke actually turned the music down and frowned. Thankfully, he kept his eyes on the road and didn’t turn towards Reggie to talk to him, “Are you nervous about being around Ray or something, dude?” 

“Huh?” Reggie wasn’t really in the mind space to think about anything other than the hope that Luke Patterson's driving skills wouldn’t be the reason for his demise. 

“Are nervous about being my fake boyfriend or whatever? You’re barely singing, and you always sing in the car, dude.” 

Reggie had almost forgotten that they had to do that, and he groaned at the reminder, “Don’t remind me, man.” 

“Oh, come on, it’s just like holding my hand and cuddling while we watch the movie. We basically do that anyways,” Luke said, rolling his eyes with a smile. 

“But it's the principle of the thing, dude! We’re lying about being in a relationship on Valentine's Day. That has to be a sin or something,” Reggie crossed his arms, and sunk into his seat.

Luke pulled onto Julie’s street and parked not so carefully, “Don’t be a drama queen, Reg.”

“I’m not being a drama queen. I mean, dude, you could have spent Valentine's day with that hot chick from english class instead of pretending to be my boyfriend because I told our best friend's dad that we were dating.” Reggie did actually feel bad for basically stealing Luke’s romantic day. There were plenty of girls that were waiting for his friend to take them on a date, and Luke had to pretend to take out Reggie of all people. 

“...hot girl from english class? Dude, are you talking about Sammy?“ 

“Yea, her! She was basically flirting with you during all of creative comp.” 

Luke scrunched his nose, “She’s nice, but I think I would prefer to spend my Valentines with a hot _guy_ from my English class.” 

Reggie’s eyebrows furrowed, “What? Which guy?” 

Luke eyed him for a second before laughing, “Hmm, well, he sits next to me, and makes dumb jokes that make me laugh all the time. Oh, and he’s my fake boyfriend right now.” 

“Oh! Me, you’re talking about me…you think I’m hot?” Reggie looked at his friend with a questioning gaze. 

“Who doesn’t?” Luke replied, patting Reggie’s cheek with a grin, “Ready to go have an awesome movie night, lover boy?”

Reggie let out a surprised laugh, _“Lover boy?”_

“Yup,” Luke opened his car door and started to head towards the studio, “Let’s go, lover boy!”

“Don’t call me that!” Reggie said as he followed Luke, but his friend ignored him in favor of opening the studio doors.

When they walked in, they immediately noticed how the studio was littered with fairy lights, and that the floor was covered in lots of blankets and pillows. There was some Elton John playing from one of the speakers set up in the room. Willie and Alex were already cuddling on the couch, looking at each other with heart eyes. Luke rolled his eyes with a smile. He was really happy those two had finally gotten their shit together, but, man, they were all over each other now that they were officially boyfriends. Julie and Flynn were nowhere to be seen which was a bit odd, but the two boys didn’t have time to question it as Ray greeted them. 

“Hey!” Ray was setting up a white sheet with the help of Carlos, “I’m glad you guys could make it! Hope you didn’t cancel any special Valentines day plans.” 

“Oh,” Luke made a dismissing motion with his hand before intertwining it with Reggie’s, “We wouldn’t miss it for the world, Mr. Molina. Isn’t that right, babe?”

“Um, right, so true, sweetheart!” Reggie nervously smiled, and Luke glanced at him with an amused yet disbelieving look before focusing back on Ray.

“Well, you kiddos make yourself at home! Julie and Flynn are in the house getting the popcorn,” Ray said as he continued to set up the projector.

Reggie stuttered a thanks as Luke pulled him away by his hand towards where Alex and Willie were. The both of them were too focused on each other to notice them approaching. Alex was basically in Willies lap, getting his hair played with, as they looked at each other softly. What dorks, Luke thought, as he squeezed Reggie’s hand. 

“Earth to Alex and Willie!” Luke said, waving his free hand to get their attention.

“Hmm?” Alex acknowledged, but didn’t look away from Willie. Luke waved his arm around one last time before sighing and deciding it was a lost cause. Those two were hopelessly in love and it was Valentines day. It was like a double whammy.

Reggie pulled Luke away and towards the blankets with pillows near the screen. He then let go of the other boy's hand, and promptly plopped down. Luke followed, laying down on the ground and putting a pillow under his head. As they were doing this, Flynn and Julie entered the studio with buckets of popcorn in their hands. Looks like Ray had gone all out and even gotten them the cute movie theatre popcorn tubs. The girls immediately headed over to them.

Flynn smirked while walking over, “How’s my favorite couple?” 

Much to Reggie’s embarrassment, there wasn’t anyone left in the group who didn’t know about his major slip up. Both Willie and Flynn had even sent him memes that they had made to poke fun at the situation. 

Luke made grabby hands at one of the popcorn tubs while he said, “We’re doing great actually, Flynn. Stop being jealous that we’re such a happy couple.” 

“As if. The only couple I’ll be jealous are those two over there,” Flynn looked at Alex and Willie with a mocking awe, “It’s like nothing else in the world exists to them. It’s amazing.” 

Julie laughed and nudged her friend, “Leave them alone, they’re in _loooove.”_

“Oh no, I’m totally making fun of them. It basically required of me as a friend to make fun of them,” Flynn replied, as she headed over to the couple. They all watched as Flynn took a handful of popcorn out of the bucket she was holding, and threw it at the couple. 

“Hey! What was that for?” Alex said with a disgruntled expression. 

“For being gross while in the same room as me,” Flynn said with a mischievous smile. 

Willie pulled popcorn out of his hair and threw it back at Flynn, hitting her on the forehead. She immediately tossed a piece back, but that ended up hitting Alex in the face instead of Willie. 

Before Alex could throw a piece back in retaliation, Ray interrupted as he turned on the projector, “What movie do you kids want to watch again?” 

“Enchanted,” Julie said with no hesitation, “It’s tradition. Flynn and I have to watch it every Valentine's day, dad.” 

Flynn whooped from where she was, “Heck yea we do.” 

Ray smiled, shrugged and started to set up the movie as everyone got settled. After tossing another piece of popcorn at Willie, Flynn quickly ran away and joined Julie on the floor. Julie snorted at her best friend, but still rested her head on Flynn's shoulder. After picking all the popcorn off them, Alex and Willie went back to their honeymoon cuddling. Reggie was already shoving popcorn into his mouth before the movie started. Luke leaned over to steal a handful of popcorn from Reggie’s bucket, so he wouldn’t have to eat from his own. This earned him a smack on the hand, but he still accomplished his small thievery despite of it.

During the movie, Luke glanced at the cuddling mess that was Willie and Alex on the couch, and frowned at the amount of space between him and Reggie. They were supposed to be the other couple in the room, and they weren’t even sitting with their shoulders touching. Hell, even Julie and Flynn were leaning against each other. And Luke couldn’t have that, could he? Ray would get suspicious if he didn’t do anything about the lack of coupleness happening between them, right?

So, Luke scooted over and casually put his arm over Reggie’s shoulder. Reggie didn’t seem to even notice or care which was excellent for the next part of Luke’s plan. Luke gripped his arm, and then proceeded to pull Reggie down with him as he laid down on the pile of pillow behind them. 

Reggie blinked in surprise as he processed that he was now laying down next to Luke. He turned his head to look at Luke, who was already looking at him with a smile lacing his lips.

“Uh, hey,” Reggie whispered, feeling a little flustered at the sudden and unexpected close proximity.

“Hey,” Luke whispered back softly. 

Reggie flushed and cleared his throat before he looked back to the projector screen. Luke didn’t know why, but there was a small ping of disappointment in him when Reggie looked away. Reggie had really pretty eyes. Had they always been that pretty? 

Luke shook his head, and almost scoffed at his thoughts. That was weird. He was being weird. He needed to stop being weird. He tried to focus back on the movie, but he couldn’t stop glancing back to Reggie. There was something about how Reggie’s eyes lit up when certain scenes happened that Luke couldn’t take his mind off of.

As he went through the cycle of thinking of Reggie’s eyes and then fighting those thoughts off by watching the movie, Luke started to get tired. 

When he yawned, Reggie rolled his eyes before whispering, “Are you already tired?”

“No,” Luke fought back a yawn, but lost rather quickly. Reggie just smirked and went back to watching the movie. Luke tried to do the same, but his eyes felt heavy. He went back and forth between closing his eyes and then forcing them open before eventually giving into sleep.

Reggie smiled at the sleeping Luke, and sat up to grab a blanket for Luke. Once, he acquired a soft, fuzzy blanket, he laid it over Luke before carefully lying back down. If he snuggled a little closer to Luke then before, that was his business.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you want to come talk to me or see more of my content, check out my tumblr: @threeghosts-nobraincells


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Last chapter being uploaded for today, lovelies! If you've enjoyed thus far make sure to keep an eye out for chapter updates every two days from me. Again, comments and kudos are very much appreciated.

Luke slowly opened his eyes, not really remembering when he had fallen asleep, and settled into the calm darkness of the studio. The fairy lights that Ray had set up were still softly glowing, leaving enough light for Luke to see. A soft breath hit the skin of his neck, startling him for a second, until he remembered that him and Reggie had been cuddling before he fell asleep.

He wanted to move his arm to stretch out, but he found it was very much stuck under Reggie’s back. Well, almost every part of Luke’s body was being trapped by Reggie’s limbs. Arms fell around his waist and legs hooked around his. Luke was going to attempt to free his arm, but then Reggie made a soft grumbling noise and snuggled his face into Luke’s chest. 

The only thought going through Luke’s head was how cute Reggie was like this. A small piece of hair fell from Reggie’s usually coiffed hair, making a Clark Kent like curl on his forehead, and his lips were slightly slack. His friend looked so peaceful like this, and Luke couldn’t bring himself to disturb that.

After realizing that he was probably looking at his friend for a bit too long, Luke closed his eyes again. He couldn't fall back asleep, but at least he wasn't being weird anymore. He was being really weird tonight, and he didn't really know why. When he was finally getting relaxed again, Luke felt the arms around his waist shift. 

Reggie, with sleep still in his voice, asked, "Luke?" 

Not sure what else to do, Luke pretended to wake up again before he responded, "Yea, Reg?" 

"Mm," Reggie snuggled into Luke's shoulder, "You're like a human heater. Comfy." 

Luke looked at Reggie with an amused smile, "Is that right?" 

"Mhm," Reggie hummed, smiling sleepily.

After this, there was a few seconds of silence as Reggie kind of just looked at him with tired eyes until they slowly widened with realization. His face flushed, and he quickly detached himself from Luke. 

"Sorry, dude! I didn't mean to, uh, octopus cuddle you like that," Reggie let out a nervous laugh before sitting up. 

"It's okay," Luke said, trying to come off as nonchalant. 

"Uh," Reggie awkwardly scooted away to make space between then, "I'll just sleep, uh, over here...so I don't cuddle you, bro." 

Luke nodded and tried not to think about how he kind of missed the warmth by his side. Reggie grabbed two pillows and put them between Luke and himself.

Luke raised an eyebrow, "What's that for?" 

"It's a...bro barrier, so I don't do that again. I'm a cuddler in my sleep," Reggie chuckled nervously.

Luke smirked and sat up to stretch, "I don't mind cuddles, lover boy." 

Reggie flushed and hissed, "Dude, what did I say about calling me that?"

"Hm," Luke leaned over the aptly named 'bro barrier' and into Reggie's space, "I'll call you what I want, lover boy." 

Reggie floundered to find words with Luke suddenly so close with that mischievous gleam in his eyes. With the ruffled hair from sleep and the smirk on his lips, Luke looked hot, and Reggie wasn’t sure how to handle that new, fun thought. 

And Luke, well, he couldn't help but think that Reggie looked adorable with that flush across his cheeks. Maybe even…cute enough to kiss.

Before either of them could say or do anything, there was a pillow hitting Luke's face. 

"Stop flirting so loud, fuckers, other people are trying to sleep here," Alex grumbled from the couch. 

Reggie squeaked out a sorry, his face still scarlet, and Luke threw the pillow back with full force. Reggie plopped back down on his side of the bro barrier, and turned away so that Luke couldn't see that his face was burning. Luke glared at the now sleeping Alex for ruining...something. He wasn't really sure what he ruined but it was definitely something. He crossed his arms, and laid down with a pout. He wasn’t sure why he was so disappointed. He didn’t think he was actually going to kiss Reggie...right? Right. Reggie’s his best friend, and he wouldn’t kiss him for real. He was just swept up in the atmosphere of Valentine’s day, which was totally normal. Thinking that your best friend looked kissable for a fleeting moment was normal. 

Whatever these feelings were would go away once he chilled out and got out of the lovey dovey atmosphere he was in. He was sure of it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Come talk to me about my fic over at my tumblr: threeghosts-nobraincells!


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello again! Back at it again with the idiots to lovers. Hope you enjoy the chapter, lovelies, and remember that comments + kudos are super appreciated <3

Luke slowly realized that the feelings from the Valentines days were not going away like he’d anticipated. Every time Reggie smiled at him or held his hand out of nowhere, Luke would get a burst of butterflies in his stomach. And those stupid butterflies made him want to take Reggie’s all too pretty face and kiss it until he ran out of air in his lungs. 

Though, whenever the thought crossed his mind, he would always push it down and tell himself to get a grip. This was Reggie. His _best friend_ , not someone who he could just have a crush on. Nope, it wasn’t happening. Not to Luke Patterson. He was a rockstar, not a lovesick idiot. 

Except, he was kind of acting like an idiot right now, but it wasn’t his fault. Reggie just needed to stop talking to Kayla. Usually, they would write music with Julie during their shared lunch, but Reggie had been caught by the pretty girl right outside the music room doors. Luke couldn't hear the conversation between the two, but he could see the way Reggie was all smiles and laughs. 

The burning in his chest was definitely not because of how Kayla occasionally put her hand on Reggie’s arm. It was only because he wanted to start writing music with their bassist. It was only about the music, and nothing else.

Luke huffed, crossing his arms, before he looked away from the pair. Julie, who was sitting next to him, was wearing an all too amused smile. 

“Why are you looking at me like that?” Luke asked. 

“Oh,” Julie glanced outside the doors to see Reggie and Kayla laughing, “No reason. I was just wondering why you hate Kayla so much.” 

Luke frowned, picking up his guitar, “Why do you think I hate Kayla? I’ve barely even talked to her.” 

“Oh, I don’t know. Usually, when someone glares that hard you’d think they’re mortal enemies or something.”

Luke stared at Julie for a second before scoffing, “I was not glaring. I just want Reggie to get his ass over here, so we can write some killer music. We have a gig coming up, Jules, and Reggie is literally talking to someone from a rival band instead of helping us.” 

Julie nods along with what he’s saying, “Yes, that’s true. All extremely valid, but none of that really justifies the hole you were trying to burn into the girls head. In my humble opinion, I think someone’s a _little_ jealous.” 

After opening and closing his mouth a couple times, Luke finally landed on a comeback, “I’ve literally never been jealous in my entire life, Julie.”

No one said it was a good comeback, but it definitely was a comeback. 

“That’s the biggest lie I’ve heard come out of your mouth, and you’re very literally fake dating Reggie, so congrats.”

“But I’m not jealous! Reggie can talk to all the hot chicks he wants, it doesn’t matter to me. We aren’t even actually dating.” 

“Mhm,” Julie had a shit eating grin on her face, “So, it doesn’t matter to you at all Kayla just gave Reggie a kiss on the cheek? Doesn’t bother you just a tiny bit?”

“She fucking _what?”_ Luke practically yelled, head whipping towards the window. When he saw the pair, they were still talking at a respectable distance, and Kayla was handing Reggie a notebook. Luke’s stomach dropped when he realized that he’d been duped. 

“Aha, gotcha, idiot! You’re totally jealous!” Julie pointed an accusatory finger at him. 

“Shut up, shut up,” Luke whisper yelled as he gave her a panicked look, “Do you want to announce it to the whole fucking school, Jules?” 

“So, you admit it?” 

Luke let out an annoyed sigh, “Yes, fine, I admit it! I might be a tiny bit jealous, but it doesn’t mean anything. I’m going to get over it.” 

“Get over what?” Julie asked, squinting her eyes at him. 

Before Luke could reply, Reggie opened up the doors and walked into the music room. 

Julie didn’t even hesitate before trying to pry information out of Reggie, “Sooooo, what was that all about?” 

Reggie slid the notebook the girl had given him into his messenger bag, “I had to get some lab notes from Kaya ‘cause we have a test soon.” 

Neither Julie or Luke could get a word in before Reggie sighed wistfully, falling into a chair, “Guys, she’s so nice and pretty and sweet. Oh, and funny! She’s so funn-” 

Luke interrupted, looking like he’d eaten something sour, “Yea! We get it, Reg. Now can we actually use the period to write music or…?”

Julie’s eyebrows shot up before she mouthed to Luke for him to ‘calm down’. Reggie didn’t process the somewhat hostile tone and kept going, “Yea, we totally can, but can I tell you about how she got so excited when I complimented her t-shirt. How cute is that, dude?” 

“Her Marina and the Diamonds shirt? I didn’t even know you listened to her,” Julie commented. 

“Jules, Bubblegum Bitch was a cultural reset,” Reggie said, almost offended.

In an attempt to calm down, Luke exhaled through his nose and started strumming his guitar. Luke began to block out the rest of the conversation after that. Playing whatever notes came to mind was a lot easier than watching as Reggie developed one of his crushes. Luke scolded himself for letting his stupid feelings get the better of him earlier. Reggie very much wasn’t his to get jealous over. Plus, getting jealous like this felt like a new low to him. He had to get over this crush. All these stupid thoughts about wishing he was _Kayla,_ of all people, had be stamped out somehow. He would get over this. He would. Totally. One hundred percent.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Personally, I think jealous Luke is fun to write. Hope you liked reading him as much as I liked it writing it. 
> 
> Want to interact with me? Check out my tumblr: threeghosts-nobraincells


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Last chapter to be posted for today, but I think that my next upload will be three chapters of content! So, make sure you keep an eye out for my update in two days. Also, friendly reminder that comments and kudos make my day :)

So, Luke was kind of doing an awful job at the whole ‘get over Reggie’ operation. Everyday he’d try to make some space between the two of them, and everyday it was always ruined by his inability to say no to Reggie. If he didn’t have rehearsal, he would always make plans to head straight home, so he wouldn’t get pulled into hanging out with the bassist. But then Reggie would ask him if he could come over with that cute look on his face, and Luke would give in without much of a fight. 

That's how Reggie was laying on Luke's bed at the moment, reading whatever book he’d picked up this week. Luke was sprawled on the floor, not really focused on the worksheet he was doing. History homework was much less interesting than the Marina and the Diamonds song he was listening to. She was actually quite good, but he wasn’t very surprised. Reggie’s taste in music was chaotic but still top notch. But this meant that Kayla’s taste in music was good too, which was just another addition to the list of great things about her.

Since he was zoned out, Luke didn’t notice when Reggie moved and was now sitting criss cross next to where Luke was laying. 

Reggie waved his hand in Luke’s line of sight, “Bro? Are you alive?” 

Luke blinked, pulling his earbud out, “What?” 

“I’ve been trying to get your attention for the past five minutes. I was trying to ask you about bowling this weekend…wait, are you listening to Marina?” 

“Oh, uh,” Luke paused the music that had been blasting out of his earbud, “Yea, I’ve been trying to...diversify my music, you know?” 

“Oh, cool! You know Kayla likes her a lot!” Luke had gotten a lot better at listening to Reggie ramble about Kayla, but it still stung a little each time.

“Yup, buddy, I know,” Luke pushed himself up onto his elbows.

“You do?” 

“Yea, you talk about her more than you think, dork,” Luke ignored the burning in his chest, “Anyways, you were gonna ask about bowling before you went into the Kayla zone? 

“Right!” Reggie tugged nervously on his necklace, “Well...Julie’s dad is paying for bowling, and, uh, he still thinks we’re dating, dude. What's the game plan?” 

“We could fake break up,” Luke suggested lightly. He almost hoped Reggie would say no to that, despite knowing that fake breaking up was probably best for his metal health at this point. The whole fake dating situation is what brought on these dumb feelings after all. 

A small frown formed on Reggie's face at the thought, “And ruin bowling night? We’d have to act all awkward around each other, and that’s so lame.” 

Luke really should have insisted about acting like they’d broken up, but instead he sat up and grinned while saying, “So, fake boyfriends it is.” 

“You’re still cool with doing that?” Reggie asked, curiously. 

“Look, dude, it’s not like it’s hard,” Luke shrugged, “Just like wear my jacket or something. That’ll look super coupley, right?” 

“Wear your jacket?” 

“Yea,” Luke started shrugging off his crème and black colored jacket, “Here you can wear this when we go bowling. It’s like a guaranteed way to have Ray think we’re dating.”

Reggie stared at the jacket in his hands with furrowed brows. Luke smirked, “Do you not like my jacket? Do you want my shirt instead?” 

“What?” Reggie looked up and Luke was already taking his shirt off, “Dude! Keep your shirt on! I’ll wear this, oh my God.” 

Luke smirked, pulling his shirt back down, “Good. Now give me your flannel. I’m gonna wear it.” 

Reggie smiled, goofily, “Something with sleeves? You’re sure you can handle that?” 

Luke rolled his eyes, “Fuck you. Hand it over, dork.” 

[line break]

Giving Reggie his jacket was a huge mistake. Luke couldn’t focus at all with Reggie looking like that. He was wearing his usual outfit of black jeans and tank top, but now he had the crème jacket on to contrast it. It was big on him, so the sleeves were a little too long and it made him look small. And Luke really didn’t expect it to affect him so much. The jacket was supposed to make it easy to pretend to be a couple without having to be overly affectionate. Now it was making it hard for Luke to resist from peppering kisses all over Reggie’s face. When Reggie got into Alex’s car so that they could go bowling, Luke couldn’t help but stare. Reggie tugged self consciously on the sleeves when he noticed Luke looking at him, “Does it look funny on me? It’s a little big cause not all Mr. Muscles like you are.” 

“What? No, you look really hot,” Luke said, not really thinking about it. He really hadn’t meant for that to come out, but now he had to double down or else Reggie would think he was being serious. So, he winked and said, “Practically smokin’, Reg.” 

Alex turned around from the driver's seat, “Okay, so I would really appreciate it if you guys didn’t make out in my car. Save it for Luke’s room.”

Luke just rolled his eyes, but Reggie floundered as he gestured between Luke and him, “We...I...we wouldn’t!”

“Sure you wouldn’t, bud,” Alex retorted, turning back around to start driving again. 

“I...we...Luke! We wouldn’t do that, _right?”_

“Well,” Luke shrugged, trying to come off as nonchalant, “If you asked, I wouldn’t exactly be opposed.” 

Reggie looked at him, bewildered, and Alex raised his voice, “No! You might not be opposed, Luke, but I am! This car is a make out free zone.” 

“Whatever, you nerd. I do what I want.” 

“This is my car!” Alex protested, trying to focus on the road. They had to get to Willie’s house in one piece.

As Luke and Alex continued to argue about what was and wasn’t allowed in the car, Reggie was trying to figure out if Luke was being serious or not about wanting to make out with him. He had to be joking, right? _Right?_ Of course, he was joking. Luke wouldn’t want to make out with him. Hot girls, yea, but not him. He was just saying that to annoy Alex. Nothing else going on there, Reggie decided.

When they finally got to Willie’s house, Alex was immediately hit by what his boyfriend was wearing. Willie decided that his outfit of the day would include a tie dye crop top that said ‘Don’t talk to me, I have a boyfriend and he’s HOT’ in bold letters. Alex didn’t think he could drive with Willie wearing that right next to him. Alex had a pretty blush on his face when Willie got into the car, “W-what are you wearing?” 

“Oh, you like it? I tie dyed it myself.” Willie smiled proudly. 

“It’s...it’s, um, wow. You look really good.”

“Hm,” Willie turned and pulled Alex into a kiss before saying, “Thanks, baby.” 

Luke cleared his throat and interrupted the couple's moment, “Don’t go and break your own rule, Alexander.” 

Alex glared at Luke, “My car, my rule, Lucas.” 

Willie looked between the two of them, confused, “What’s the rule exactly?” 

Reggie piped in with the answer, “Alex says no making out in his car.” 

Much to Alex’s embarrassment, Willie’s eyebrows raised as he smirked, “What about that one time w-”

“Okay!" Alex cut off Willie, giving him a look before letting out a nervous laugh, “Who’s excited to go bowling?” 

There was a heavy few seconds of silence before Luke yelled with wide eyes, “Hey! What the fuck did he mean by that?!” 

Willie broke into pure laughter as Alex turned scarlet, fumbling with the car's control so he could back out of Willie’s driveway. 

“Answer the question, douchebags!” 

Willie just kept laughing as Alex yelled back, voice squeaky, “No!” 

The rest of the car ride consisted of even more bickering between Alex and Luke which surprised no one, especially not the other people in the car. Willie knew he was probably going to get in trouble for giving Luke free reign to poke fun at Alex, but it was honestly too funny to regret. 

And Reggie had stopped paying attention to the conversation after he realized that Luke was, in fact, wearing his flannel around his waist. He could only focus on how Luke looked more punk to match the flannel. It was the typical sleeveless band shirt and beanie, but now he wore a pair of ripped jeans and combat boots Reggie didn’t even know he owned. He looked _hot._

Reggie really didn’t know why that thought kept reappearing. Reggie always knew Luke was hot, what with the sleeveless shirts, strong arms, charming smile and…yea. He always knew his friend was attractive, it was just fact, but this was a little much. Noticing your friends arms this much was _probably_ not normal. 

Shaking his head and looking out the car window, Reggie reminded himself of Kayla’s laugh. Having a crush on Kayla was easy and much less confusing than his drifting thoughts about Luke. That didn’t make his thoughts about stupidly strong arms any less prominent, sure, but it definitely distracted from them. And Kayla was a _really_ nice distraction after all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Reggie really is oh so very in denial in this chapter! He gets even more oblivious in later chapters which...I don't even know.  
> On that note, I hope you've enjoyed thus far and thank you all for reading! If you want to come chat with me, check out my tumblr: threeghosts-nobraincells.


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Back with a dose of dumbassery much earlier in the day then usual! Also, please note that I haven't bowled in forever nor was I ever really that good at it, so I tried my best with the actual bowling bits lmao. Anyways, I hope you're all having a wonderful day and enjoy new chapters. I think the next update will only be one chapter but! it's a fun one, so keep an eye out in two days :)  
> 

When they finally arrived at the bowling alley, Alex and Luke managed to come to some sort of truce. It was mostly just Luke saying that he wouldn’t forget this before heading into the bowling alley with Reggie in tow, but it was a truce nonetheless. 

When they all got there, the Molina family and Flynn were waiting by the entrance. 

“Finally! It took you guys like five hundred years to get here,” Flynn exclaimed as the boys approached.

“We’re only like five minutes late,” Alex protested, checking his phone. 

“Yea! Five whole minutes where I wasn’t absolutely destroying Julie in bowling. It’s a travesty,” Flynn said, throwing her hands in the air for emphasis. 

“No way, Flynn, you’re so gonna lose,” Julie smirked, confidence in her eyes. 

Before Flynn could respond, Ray chuckled and said, “Alright, alright, let’s get our shoes and then you guys can see who the bowling master is.” 

“It’s definitely me,” Flynn said, earning her a playful shove from Julie. She rolled her eyes before grabbing Flynn’s hand and heading to the shoe counter. 

Once they had acquired their shoes. Ray got the group two bowling lanes. One was for the Molina family (honorary member Flynn included) and the other for the boys. Ray walked over to where the group of boys were sitting down and trying to shove on their spiffy bowling shoes. 

Ray clapped his hands together, “Okay, kiddos, I have one ground rule. No throwing bowling balls at each other. I don’t want any hospital visits on my watch, got it?” 

He waited for them to all nod, “Alright! I’ll leave you guys to it. Oh, and if you kids want any snacks or anything, let me know!”

Ray started to walk to where Julie and Flynn were putting in their names, but paused when he passed Willie, “By the way, like your shirt, Willie! Very fun.” 

Willie practically beamed at this, “Isn't it rad? I tie dyed it myself!”

Ray held his hand up for a high five which Willie enthusiastically returned, “Good job, kiddo! It looks great.”

Once Ray was out of ear shot, Willie turned to Alex excitedly, “He liked my shirt, babe.” 

“Ehhh, he’s a dad though. It doesn’t count.” 

Willie just grinned, “Yea, but Ray is like the coolest dad, so his opinion is valid, Alex. You’re just lame. Hot but lame.” 

“Hey!” Alex tried protesting, but Willie held a finger to his lips. 

“No more Ray slander out of you. We’re gonna go make fun names in the machine now instead of disrespecting the raddest dad,” Willie was already heading over to the machine before Alex could get another word in. Alex just rolled his eyes fondly before joining him. 

In an effort to be cute, Alex put Willie’s name as ‘lovely’ which was ruined by the fact that Willie put in ‘hotdog supreme’ instead of something romantic. Alex didn’t know what else he was expecting if he was honest. Either way, he had his fun by punching in Reggie and Luke’s names to be ‘rat’ and ‘rat 2’. He especially took joy in the offended look on Luke’s face when he told him he was rat two. 

“What do you mean I’m rat two?! I’m one of the leads in our band!”

Alex just raised an eyebrow at this, “It’s that attitude and the disrespect to my car rules that gets you rat two status, Lucas.” 

“Don’t Lucas me, Alexander! No offense, Reg, but I’m totally a rat one.”

Reggie shrugged, amused, “None taken.” 

Willie clicked his tongue before smirking, “Nah, you have rat two energy.”

“What does that mean?” Luke asked, which just got him a shrug in return before Willie left to get a bowling ball with Alex in tow, “Don’t leave without explaining what...and they’re ignoring me.” 

“Hey, hey,” Reggie wrapped an arm around Luke’s waist, putting his chin on the boy's shoulder, “It’s okay, dude, you’re rat one in my heart.” 

For whatever reason, Luke softened at this, his frown turning more into a pout, “You’re the only person here who’s my actual friend.” 

“I know,” Reggie grinned and placed a quick kiss on Luke’s cheek, “Let’s do some bowling, rat one.” 

It was kind of embarrassing that Luke actually found Reggie calling him rat endearing, but he couldn’t help it! It wasn’t his fault that he was weak for the boy’s cheek kisses and goofy grins. Still, he let himself be pulled up from his seat to go grab a bowling ball. Honestly, he just grabbed the one with the prettiest color while Reggie took his time finding the ‘perfect one’ as he put it. Luke didn’t get it, but yet again he’d only bowled once in the seventh grade. 

And, despite trying his best, it _really_ showed that he couldn’t bowl. He was bad. Like ‘the ball usually went into the gutter and, if it didn’t, he only hit two pins’ bad. Reggie, on other hand, kept getting strikes like it was nothing. Luke was both impressed and slightly bitter. Not even a cute face could get rid of his competitive streak. 

After another failed attempt at bowling, Luke plopped down next to Reggie, “How are you so good at this?” 

“Lots of bowling alley birthday parties as a kid,” Reggie smirked at him, “Why? Looking for some tips, dude?” 

“What? No, I wasn’t. I don’t need any bowling advice.” 

“Well, I could always help you hit...some of the pins, you know, if you wanted,” Reggie offered before he got up for his turn. Luke crossed his arms and scoffed at the offer. He could figure it out on his own. 

He couldn’t actually, and he quickly realized this as the game went on. Well, at least he had upgraded from the gutter to hitting at least two pins per turn. That was progress, right? 

“Let me help you, dude,” Reggie said, walking up to Luke who’d hit one pin in the previous throw. 

“We’re competing, Reg, don’t you know it’s bad to help the enemy?” Luke responded as he picked up his ball from the return. 

“Whatever you say, man.”

As Luke got ready to throw the ball, Reggie looked him over, “See that’s your problem. You’re basically in a stance to chuck the ball with one hand.” 

Luke, confused, turned to him, “Bro, what does that even mean?”

“Well, hmm, it’s how you’re holding the-you know what? Let me just show you.” 

Luke was expecting Reggie to demonstrate somehow with his own bowling ball, but instead he saddled up behind him and grabbed his arm. Luke froze. Reggie was pressed against his back, resting his head on his shoulder, as he guided his arm. 

“Chill, dude,” Reggie whispered, which absolutely didn’t help him chill, “Okay, focus on where you want to throw the ball. Hand straight back.” 

Luke, despite his slightly malfunctioning brain, managed to do what Reggie was telling him. They walked forwards together, Reggie quickly guiding Luke’s arm up, before he told him to let go of the ball. When Luke let go, Reggie backed up to give his friend some space. 

When the ball didn’t go straight into the gutter like usual and actually hit the pins down, Luke exclaimed, excited, “Oh my god, it actually worked!” 

He whipped around towards Reggie, saying, “Come here, dude!” 

Luke grabbed his friend's face, pressed a wet kiss to his forehead, before pulling away. Then Luke just held Reggie’s face in his hands, too enamored by a big, goofy grin and a dust of pink sitting on faded freckles to let go. God, Reggie was so... _pretty._ He wondered why he never appreciated it before.

“Maybe you can even get a strike next round,” Reggie said, breaking Luke out of his stupor. He let his arms drop by his sides while clearing his throat. 

He patted Reggie’s arm, awkwardly, “Yup! Thanks for the help, bud.”

“No problemo!” Reggie grinned while pointing finger guns and a wink in Luke’s direction. When Reggie turned around, Luke stared after him, wishing that he wasn’t as flustered as he was. He really was starting to feel like a thirteen year old boy around his first crush, and he was getting tired of it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Bowling antics and Luke being a total simp is such a good combo! And Reggie really doesn't know he has any effect on Luke - oblivious bastard. Hope you enjoyed reading and, if you want, check out my tumblr: threeghosts-nobraincells.


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I see you're still here! Thank you so much for reading and know that it is very appreciated, lovely reader! Enjoy the chapter <3

Into the second round of bowling, Reggie suddenly had that stupid smirk he used when he flirted with girls on his face. Reggie hit his arm and kept his voice low, “Dude, do you think you could cover me while I go over there and talk to Kayla?” 

“She’s here?”

“Yea, man! She just came in with a couple of her friends, and this is so my chance to get her number. I need you to cover me if Ray asks any question ‘cause I don’t want him to think I’m like trying to cheat or whatever.” 

Luke glanced at the group of girls, and Kayla was definitely standing among them. She was still just as pretty. Probably just as nice too. 

A burning sensation filled Luke’s chest, and it made him feel sick. It was like someone had poured acid down his throat. Jealous. He was jealous, he knew, but Reggie wasn’t his boyfriend. It wasn’t fair to try and stop Reggie from dating other people when he obviously didn’t feel the same. If Kayla made him happy then who was Luke to try and take that from him?

Luke forced a smile, and nodded, “Go get her, dude!” 

“Thank you, Luke, you’re the literal best,” Reggie beamed at him and bounded towards the girls. 

Sinking into himself, Luke mentally scolded himself for feeling like this. He was so, _so_ sick of it. Telling himself to stop didn’t make the tightness in his chest go away and sitting here, watching Reggie flirt with her would only make him feel worse. Needing some sort of outlet, Luke stood up and told Alex and Willie that he was going to check out the arcade real quick. He heard Alex say something about how they should finish the game first, but he ignored him. There were more important things to focus on like vintage video games and shitty carpeting. 

Before he could even finish one aggressive game of Pacman, Luke heard a throat clear behind him. Again, he ignored it and continued manhandling the game controls. 

“Yo, are you okay?” Alex asked, gently put his hand on Luke’s shoulder. 

Luke hit a ghost and groaned as the death sound effect played, “I was okay until you made me freaking lose, Alex.” 

“Right,” Alex rolled his eyes in a loving way, “Soooo, this has nothing to do with Reggie talking to Kayla out there?” 

“I...no, it doesn’t,” Luke shook his head, taking out another quarter for the machine from his pocket.

Alex placed an arm over the machine screen, “Dude, stop playing Pac-man for like two seconds!”

“You’re not the boss of me, Alex,” Luke said, smacking at Alex’s arm to get him to move it. 

“Yea, but I am your best friend who can see that you’re not okay, Luke.” 

“I’m fin-“ Luke was cut off by someone lightly hitting the back of his head. 

“Luke,” Julie whisper yelled, “Are you alright? You ran off in the middle of bowling.”

“Why is everyone asking if I’m alright? I literally just want to play some Pac, but Alex isn’t letting me,” Luke said, once again smacking Alex’s arm, which didn’t budge. 

Alex and Julie made eye contact for a brief second as Julie motioned to the photo booth with her head. Alex nodded, and they both grabbed one arm and yanked Luke over to the booth. 

“What are you doing?!” Luke said as they pulled him down to take a seat between them.

“Welcome to the therapy photo booth, Luke. It’s where you’re going to actually talk about your feelings,” Alex said, crossing his arms and getting comfortable in his seat.

“I don’t have any feelings to talk about, dude!” Luke protested as he stood up. Julie wrapped a hand around Luke’s wrist, stopping him from leaving the photo booth. 

“Hey, hey, it’ll help if you talk about it, you know. We’re here for you,” Julie said in a soft tone that made Luke relax a little. 

He looked between his two friends, who were both looking at him with worried expressions, and he sat back down next to them. Luke sighed, slumping against the wall, “Is there that much to talk about? You guys already know what the deal is.” 

“Well, yea, but if you actually get it out of your system instead of keeping it all here,” Alex poked Luke’s chest, “you’ll feel better. Promise.” 

“Yea!” Julie agreed, “Just say what you’re feeling to get it out in the open.”

“Okay, well, I feel pretty stupid right now because of all these feelings that won’t go away,” Luke said, unconsciously adjusting the flannel tied around his waist. 

“...and those feelings are?” Alex asked, making a ‘go on’ motion with his hands. Luke stopped, frowning, but gave in after a couple seconds of silence with his friends looking at him expectantly. 

“Fine, I like Reggie more than a friend! I like him and his stupidly handsome face even though he’s out there flirting with perfect, pretty Kayla!” Luke took a deep breath, clenching his fingers around red and black fabric, “There I said it. Are you guys happy?”

“Yea, actually, I mean...we knew that already, but we’re happy you finally admitted it to yourself,” Alex replied, giving Luke a gentle pat on the back. 

“...wait, if you guys know, do you think Reggie knows?” Luke asked, slowly. 

Before Luke could panic, both his friends shook their heads while Alex explained, “He absolutely does not. You very literally call him lover boy, and he thinks you’re just being platonic, I don’t think you could be more obvious, Luke.”

“Dude, to be fair, that did start as a platonic joke nickname,” Luke pointed out. 

A look of disbelief washed over Alex’s face before he said, “You guys are truly ridiculous, you know that?” 

“It was funny to me, okay, Ale-”

“Okkaaay,” Julie said, cutting Luke off, “Back to the topic at hand, guys. Luke, I think that if you want Reggie to know you like him then you have to tell him up front. He won’t notice unless you say it straight to his face, trust me.” 

“Uh, who said I wanted Reggie to know my feelings for him?” Luke questioned, and both of his friends hit his arm in response, “Ow! Hey! It’s not like he likes me back anyways, so why would I tell him? It might make things awkward between us, and I can’t have that happen with Reggie. He’s been my best friend for years.” 

“Yea, but having an actual conversation with him might get you farther than you think, dude,” Alex said, hoping he would get the hint. He had a sneaking suspicion that Luke’s crush wasn’t as unrequited as he thought. 

“Easy for you guys to say. You two totally lucked out. Willie liked you back, Alex, and Flynn basically makes heart eyes at you every five minutes, Julie. And I have to like someone who is flirting with someone else as we speak.” 

“Yea, I’m really sorry, Luke,” Julie said, sympathetically, before fully processing what Luke said, “...hey, wait, Flynn doesn’t give me heart eyes!” 

“She so does, don’t even try it, Molina.” Luke retorted, rolling his eyes. 

“She...I...Alex! Flynn doesn’t give me heart eyes, right?” 

Alex gave Julie an apologetic as he replied, “Ehhh, sorry, Julie, I’m with Luke on this one.” 

“See, ha! Alex agrees with me, you dork. Maybe you should be the one talking about your feelings, huh?” Luke said, prodded a finger at Julie with a shit eating grin on his face. 

“We’re here to talk about you, not me. My feeling towards Flynn is not-” 

Luke cut Julie off, “I thought this was the therapy booth where we talked about our crushes, or am I wrong? Come on Julie! It’s prime time for admitting that we have crushes on our best friends!” 

“You are not turning this around on me, Luke! I don’t have anything to admit,” Julie said, crossing her arms and looking away from Luke. 

“Oh, please. You could barely form a thought when she borrowed your dress last week, and last time I checked stuttering and blushing around your friend is a big sign of having a crush.” 

Julie flushed before whipping around and protesting once more. Alex watched as his friends played verbal tennis, getting less and less amused by the minute. They were both pining idiots. He would know, he has to be around the oblivious flirting all the time. He knew that he was probably like that with Willie before they dated, but that didn’t stop him from wishing they would all just get a clue. 

After a couple minutes of friendly arguing, finally Julie admitted, “Fine! I like Flynn, okay? Are you happy, Lucas?” 

“Extremely happy, actually,” Luke replied, his Cheshire-like grin still prominent. 

Before Julie could try and respond, Alex cut them off with an exasperated, “Are you guys finally done?”

“Hm, you think we’re done, Julie?” Luke asked, nudging the girl. 

“Yea, yea, we’re done,” Julie smiled softly, contrasting her earlier expressions, “Truce based on the mutual experience of being little in love with our best friends.” 

“A little?” Alex asked, raising his eyebrows. 

“A lot,” Julie corrected, laughing a little. 

“Alright, come here, you dorks,” Luke said as he wrapped both of his friends in a side hug, feeling a lot better than before. Sure, the situation sucked, but at least he had his friends (or family, really). The usual burning in his chest had simmered into an almost comforting warmth. He wasn’t really angry anymore, it was more of an ache now. A sadness lingered, but he would get through it. Things would be okay especially with his friends by his side. 

Luke squeezed their shoulders, “Thanks guys. I needed this.”

“Of course, doofus. We’re always here for you,” Julie replied, softly, as she leaned onto Luke’s shoulder. Luke smiled and rested his head on Julie’s. He had a feeling that somehow things would be okay.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm a big softy for found family lmao can you tell?


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Last chapter for today! Hope you had fun reading and I'll see you again in two days time. Love you guys, and thank you for all the love and support on this fic <3

Reggie knew that Kayla was pretty, obviously, but she was especially gorgeous when she was all made up. Her hair was up and away in a scrunchie, and her lips were shiny from gloss. Reggie’s heart fluttered nervously when he started heading over to her, but he tried to keep it calm and cool. 

Kayla was grabbing a purple bowling ball from one of the racks when Reggie tapped her shoulder, trying to wear his most charming smile, “Hey, Kayla! Funny seeing you here. 

Slightly startled, Kayla turned around quickly. She smiled upon seeing who it was, “Oh, Reggie, hey! Are you bowling here too?” 

“Yup! Bowling with a couple of my friends over there,” he gestured vaguely over his shoulder, “I saw you from across the alley, so I thought I’d come and say hi.” 

“Nice, nice,” there was an awkward lull in conversation before Kayla said, “Well, it’s good seeing you outside of chemistry and, like, the hallway!” 

“Yea, totally! You also look good outside of...chemistry class,” the last part of his sentence came out more like a question, “Uh, what I mean is that I think you look nice tonight. The shirt is really great on you.” 

“Oh, thanks!” Kayla looked down at her shirt, and then back up to give Reggie a small smile. 

“So,” Reggie leaned onto the bowling ball rack, “Does your shirt happen to be in the size...beautiful?” 

Kayla stared at him for a second before she started to laugh in her own disbelief. Reggie forced out an awkward chuckle before muttering, “Funny, yea, I totally meant for that to be funny.” 

When Kayla saw how Reggie’s gaze was now downwards, and that he was fiddling with his fingers, she realized that he was, in fact, not joking. 

“Oh, Reggie, wait, I’m so sorry. I thought you were...I probably came off as so rude. I really didn’t mean it like that,” Kayla started, scrambling.

Reggie moved his hand in a dismissive fashion, “It’s cool, it’s cool. Don’t worry about it.” 

Kayla kept going despite this, “It’s just...It’s just that I thought that you had a, um, boyfriend, and as much as I think you’re a cool guy, I’m not really into...that.” 

“ _What?_ I-I don’t have a boyfriend. What made you think I have a _boyfriend?_ ” Reggie stammered out his words with wide eyes. 

“I assumed you and Luke were a thing, but-”

“Me and Luke?” Reggie questioned with a nervous laugh and a blush rising on his cheeks, “We’re not-no...we’re just friends.” 

Kayla nodded awkwardly, giving Reggie a reassuring smile, “Really? Oh my god, that’s my bad! Shouldn’t assume people are dating just because…”

“...because what?” Reggie asked quietly. He kind of, very much wanted to leave this conversation, but didn’t want to end the conversation on extremely awkward terms. Kayla was still really sweet, and Reggie didn’t want to lose that even though she only thought of him as a friend. 

“Oh, um, well, he just waits outside of our chem class for you everyday, and always, like, puts an arm over your shoulder when he sees you. And he looks really excited to see you everyday, but it’s really my bad…”

Reggie thought about it for a second, realizing that Luke did, in fact, do all those things almost everyday. It was so routine for him, he barely thought anything of it. That was just how him and Luke were, though. You know, two affectionate bros that held hands every so often. But it was kind of funny to him how Luke was basically a romantic enigma to people because of his need for hugs. 

Reggie let out a light hearted laugh, shaking his head, “That’s how Luke is with everyone. Touchy feely guy, you know.” 

Kayla relaxed, seeing that Reggie was cool with her mistake, before jokingly saying, “Well, yeah, but he would give you, like, lovey dovey looks every day.” 

“Lovey dovey looks? Yea, right, Kayla, you’re just messing with me now,” Reggie said, nudging the girl with a laugh. 

“It's true!” Kayla laughed a little, “Maybe you should be putting those awesome pick up lines to use on him.” 

“You think they’re awesome?” Reggie asked, completely missing what Kayla actually said to him. 

Kayla looked at him sympathetically, feeling a bit bad for what she was about to say, “They were cute, Reggie, and you’re a great guy...it’s just that, besides the whole boyfriend thing, I’m not exactly into...guys.” 

“Oh...oh!” Reggie really wished he could go invisible on command, “That’s cool! Better than cool!” 

“Yea, I’m sorry, Reggie. You’re a really sweet guy!”

Out of all the ways he envisioned his night going, being rejected by a lesbian, who thought he was dating Luke, was not high on the list. It was beginning to feel like his luck these past months has been the worst. First, Ray thinks he’s dating Luke because of a slip up, and now this? 

“Thanks! It’s not a big deal, so don-” Before he could finish the sentence, a very familiar girl wearing a shiny pink top appeared out of nowhere to wrap her arm around Kayla's waist.

“Carrie!” Reggie laughed nervously. The girl was pretty intimidating as is, but now she was looking at him as if she could burn holes in his head. 

“Reggie! You’re here,” Carrie placed a hand over her heart before she turned to Kayla, “What are you two talking about, babe?”

Babe. _Babe._ Reggie slotted the pieces together in his head. The hand around the waist. The somehow meaner tone then usual.. Kayla and Carrie. Carrie and Kayla. _Oh no._ He was totally about to get his ass kicked by bedazzled boots. 

“I was just leaving actually! It was really nice talking to you, Kayla,” in his internal panic, he shot fingers guns at the both of them in an effort to lighten his exit, “I’ll see you two ladies later.”

Not really waiting for a response, Reggie quickly turned around and headed back to the safety of his own friend group. Well, some of his friend group seeing that there was only Willie, Flynn, Ray and Carlos left in their two lanes. He didn’t even bother questioning where everyone went, and instead walked up to Flynn with his arms up for a hug. Flynn raised her eyebrows at him before mouthing, ‘Kayla?’ 

Reggie sighed, before nodding, “Now can I please get a hug?” 

Flynn nodded, wrapping him up in a hug, knowing that once Reggie was able to get his hug and maybe a pint of ice cream, he would be fine. She’s been in this position before. Reggie got new crushes every few months, so it wasn’t unexpected. Three months ago it was Megan and this month it was Kayla. Either way, Reggie always seemed to find himself in hopeless romantic mishaps one way or another. 

Willie and Carlos, who had been attempting to bowl backwards, also joined in the hug. Willie had a vague idea as to why Reggie needed the hug and Carlos wasn’t about to pass up hugging his Minecraft playing buddy. 

“Should I also join in on this hug, kiddos, or-” Ray asked, hesitantly from his seat. 

“Come in here, Mr. Molina!” Flynn exclaimed which prompted the older man to also join the group. He had absolutely no clue what was going on, especially since Luke had stormed off, but he was trying his best to be here for the kids. And if this meant hugging Reggie when he needed it then sure why not. 

Reggie was very grateful for it. The sting of embarrassment of what just happened with Kayla was still there, but the love coming from his friends helped him feel better. And maybe he would need a pint of ice cream, but he knew Flynn had his back for that one. His family always had his back whenever this happened to him, and it only made him hug back tighter.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter high key pained me to write ngl, but it was necessary :( I hope you enjoyed anyways despite any secondhand embarrassment. Plus, Reggie being so utterly oblivious and Carrie's minor appearance kind of saves it for me. 
> 
> Anyways, if you'd like to check out my tumblr: threeghosts-nobraincells!


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry about this update being only one chapter unlike usual! I hope you still enjoy the dumbasses and to see you in two days when I update next <3\. Only 4 more chapters to go, guys!

Luke, even after his talk with Julie and Alex, still refused to let his feelings get in the way of his friendship with Reggie. Even if it wasn’t a small crush, he was going to try and keep acting like he normally would. Their relationship was too important to risk in his humble opinion, so no major love confession for him. Though, Reggie was making it unreasonably hard to act normal around him with all the down behavior ever since Kayla rejected him. Sometimes, he just wanted to kiss a smile onto Reggie’s face whenever he pouted about being single. Or he wanted to kiss Reggie all the time, but that was beside the point. The lack of smiling from his friend was really getting to Luke.

Reggie’s mopey behavior was evidenced by how he had sighed and flopped into Luke’s bed when they had gotten into his room. He was barely responding to any of Luke’s little pokes or jokes. 

After another particularly harsh poke to his face, Reggie finally responded by asking, “How do you do it?” 

Luke, confused, asked, “Do what, dork?” 

“Get girls to like you? You barely have to try and they already want to date you.” 

Luke raised an eyebrow at this, “Is this about Kayla?” 

“No!” Luke gave him a disbelieving look, “Fine, kind of yes. It’s not her fault that she wasn’t into me, but still, I’m pretty sure I’m gonna be alone forever.” 

“Well,” Luke shrugged, “I think that anyone who doesn’t want to date you is totally blind. You’re kind, funny, talented and like the hottest person around. What more is there to want?”

Sitting up, Reggie scratched the back of his head, “You think I’m all that? I don’t know, man…” 

“Oh, come on,” Luke hit Reggie’s shoulder, “I would totally make out with you. You’re that hot, dude.” 

Reggie turned his head to look at Luke, bewildered, “You would?” 

“Uh, yea, who wouldn’t?” Luke replied as if it was obvious. 

Reggie laughed, thinking Luke was joking, while shaking his head, “I’m not _that_ hot. You wouldn’t actually do that, you’re just trying to make me feel better.” 

Luke knew his next thought was a bad idea. A horrible idea, actually, but he really couldn’t bring himself to care in the moment. Reggie thinking he wasn’t an babe was the absolute worst, so he did the first impulsive thing he could think of to stop it. So much for trying to act normally.

“Oh, yea? Bet,” Luke responded as if Reggie had challenged him somehow. Before Reggie could process what was going on, Luke had moved so that he was practically straddling his thighs.

“You need to stop being lame about yourself and realize that you’re a total babe.” Luke poked at Reggie’s chest for emphasis. 

“I-I, um, _what?”_ Reggie managed to breathe out. Luke was close. Very close. Overwhelmingly close.

Luke leaned in to whisper into Reggie’s ear, “You’re hot, loverboy, and you really should know that.”

Reggie let out a shuttered breath, “Wow, um, Luke...” 

“You’re so hot, dude,” Luke placed a kiss on Reggie’s jaw, before pulling away, “...Is this okay?” 

Reggie blinked a few times before he answered with a very small, breathy, “Yea, it is.” 

“Nice,” Luke whispered before he kept placing soft kisses on Reggie's jaw that jumbled the few coherent thoughts he had. Even Reggie himself wasn’t sure why the hell he said yes. He knew he should probably stop whatever this is, or at least question what was going. 

“Um, Luke,” Reggie could barely find the air to speak, “Not that this isn’t cool, but, um, what exactly are we doing?” 

Luke paused, pulling away before saying, “Hm, good question. Uh, I was just trying to prove that you’re hot enough to make out with...do you want me to stop?” 

“I mean...not really? But I’m just kind of confused, I guess.” Reggie said, again not sure why he didn’t really want to stop. He blamed it on Luke’s lips. They really didn’t have any right being so soft and intoxicating. 

“It doesn’t have to be confusing,” Luke once again leaned in closer to Reggie’s face, “It’s just some friendly kissing, Reg.” 

“...if...if you say so, dude.” Reggie could feel the blush heating his cheeks. 

Luke hummed, smirking before he pressed his lips to Reggie’s neck, “I do say so, loverboy.” 

When Luke started to bite at the delicate skin of his neck, Reggie’s breath hitched, and he grabbed at Luke’s sides before closing his eyes. It was overwhelming, the feeling of teeth on his neck mixing with the confused thoughts swirling around in his head. It was gratifying and worrisome at the same time. 

The neck biting stopped, and Luke placed a small kiss on the patch of skin where a hickey was definitely going to form. When there was a sudden lull in action, Reggie opened his eyes to see Luke searching his face with an emotion he couldn’t quite place. He looked almost...unsure. Shy, even, which made no sense given the circumstances. 

“Luke?” Reggie asked, carefully. 

“Reggie?” Luke smiled softly at him. His eyes were still searching for something, and Reggie wasn’t sure what he was looking for in him. 

“Are you okay?” 

“Yea, yea,” Luke scratched the back of his head, “Just got distracted for a second.”

When Reggie tilted his head, confused, Luke looked at him, sheepishly, “You’re just very pretty, dude. It’s distracting.” 

“...pretty?” 

Again, Luke looked almost embarrassed as he said, “Yea, man. When you blush, it’s kind of you cute, you know?”

Flustered and not really sure what to say, Reggie blurted out, “You’re really hot and pretty, too.” 

Luke grinned at this, and placed a kiss on Reggie’s nose, “See, that’s what I mean. You’re really cute, dude.” 

He wasn’t sure why, but the nose kiss sent even more butterflies through his system then anything before it. When Luke looked at him, there was still that confusing, unplaceable emotion in his eyes. Something lingering, something soft in his gaze. It made his heart feel warm. The light in his chest was compelling, and it made him want to kiss the smile on Luke’s lips really bad. 

On his impulse, Reggie grabbed at the front of Luke‘s shirt and pulled him in for a kiss. Luke let out a noise of surprise before melting into the touch. Calloused fingers slid easily into Reggie’s hair, and lips moved easily against his. Luke kissed like there was nothing else in the world but Reggie’s slightly chapped lips, and it felt good. It felt _right_ for his lips to be on Lukes. 

When Luke pulled away, breathing heavy, he whispered, “Wow...Reg.” 

“That was pretty hot,” Reggie barely got the sentence out, looking at his friend with wide eyes. There were a billion thoughts swirling around in his head, but the most prominent one was screaming at him about how he just kissed his best friend. He hadn’t just given a peck to Luke, but a full blown, breathe stealing kiss. And he liked kissing Luke. A lot. 

_Oh no._ He liked Luke. _He liked Luke._ The messy brown hair hidden under a beanie, the way he listened to him rant about his favorite things with a smile or how his eyes gleamed when they shared a mic. He liked it all. Maybe even loved it all. 

Oh god, was he in _love_ with Luke? The thought twisted Reggie’s stomach with panic, and he had to get out of there. He just realized that maybe his feelings went way past friendly kissing, and he couldn’t stay here to continue making out with no strings attached. 

“Reggie, are you okay?” Luke asked, concerned, as he fixed the hair that was falling in front of the other boy's eyes. 

Reggie startled at the touch, looking at Luke like a deer in the headlights before sputtering out, “I-I should, uh, really get going. I have a lot of homework...English essays, you know.” 

Luke paused, eyebrows furrowed, before carefully moving off of Reggie. Reggie got off the bed, not looking at Luke, “Thanks for the, uh, pep talk, I guess? I just-I really have to go. I’ll see you at school, okay?” 

“Reg-” Luke tried, scrambling off his bed, but Reggie was already out the door like his room was on fire. When Luke got out of his room, Reggie wasn’t anywhere to be seen in his living room. He ignored the confused questions from his mom, and headed outside. Again, he wasn’t in sight which meant that Reggie probably sprinted from his house just to get away from him. That thought stung way more than Luke was willing to admit. 

With a frustrated sigh, Luke sat down on his porch. He knew that they’d crossed a line their relationship that they couldn’t go back over. It...scared him. Scared him more than he liked to say. Something in him feared that he’d just lost Reggie on a dumb impulse, and sitting there on his porch alone only emphasized the feeling. God, what did he just _do?_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Does this count as a cliffhanger? Kiss cliffhanger? Either way, I’m a little sorry for leaving it on this note, but, hey, another step towards the lovers part in idiots to lovers, right?


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello again! We're back with the regularly schedule programing of these boys being dumbasses while their friends try to help them. I really hope y'all enjoy todays chapters and let me know what you think with your comments or kudos!

After the kiss, Reggie holed himself in his room for about a day before deciding that he’d officially lost his mind. He’d done everything, _everything_ to take his mind off Luke. Playing his bass, listening to ABBA’s entire discography, doodling, starting a new show on Netflix. He even tried writing an essay that was due in a week, he was that desperate, but all paths lead back to thoughts of messy brown hair or a guitar pick between chapped lips.

Deciding that he needed to get out of his room, that maybe a change in scenery would help, Reggie texted the group chat labeled, ‘stupids <3’, which had Willie and Flynn in it. As much as he loved his other friends, Alex and Julie were almost always with Luke, and he didn’t exactly want to get McDonalds with the very guy he was trying to avoid. 

He much preferred Willie buying him three happy meals because he wanted ‘three toys for three boys’. This way he didn’t have to face whatever these new feelings were, and, instead, he could eat his nuggets while enjoying the conversation between his two friends about the benefits of roller skating versus skateboarding.

However, the peace was quickly broken by Flynn turning to him with squinted eyes, “You’re being awfully quiet today, Reggie. Suspiciously quiet.” 

He shrugged, “I’m just enjoying my nuggets, dude.” 

“Yeeeaaa, sure. So, what’s the scarf about?” Flynn asked, somehow looking even more inquisitive. 

“Oh, this?” Reggie adjusted the scarf covering his very obvious hickey, “It’s just a new fashion thing I’m trying.” 

“With a winter scarf? We live in California, Reggie,” Flynn commented, grabbing distastefully at the strings at the end of the scarf. 

“Fashion doesn’t stop for anything, Flynn, you know t-” Reggie was cut off by Flynn quickly grabbing the end of his scarf and yanking it off his neck. He slapped his hand onto his hickey like he’d been burned, but it was too late. 

“I knew it,” Flynn hissed, “Reggie, you have hickey!”

“I-it’s not a hickey. I, um, I walked into a door with...my neck.” Even Reggie knew that that was a horrible lie, but the unamused expression on Flynn’s face and the highly amused one on Willie’s face only added insult to injury. 

“Do you think I’m dumb, Reggie?” Flynn raised an eyebrow, crossing her arms. 

“Would you believe me if I said it was a curling iron?” 

“No, I really wouldn’t,” Flynn pointed a fry in Reggie’s face, “So, who’s to blame?” 

“Uh, I plead the fifth,” Reggie replied, nervously.

Willie, who had been silent for the whole confrontation, decided it was his time to shine, “Dude, I totally saw you go home with Luke on Friday, and I know you didn’t leave your house Saturday ‘cause you texted me the whole day. So, unless there was a random chick between now and then it had to be him.” 

“What? _No,_ I just bruised my neck...somehow,” Reggie weakly protested as he continued to self consciously hold his hickey.

“Well, Flynn, it looks like Reginald here has gotten a love bite from a mister Luke Patterson,” Willie said, triumphantly, while he stole a nugget from one of Reggie’s happy meals. 

“Oh my god, did you two finally get it together?!” Flynn exclaimed, grabbing Reggie’s arm and shaking it in excitement. 

“Wait, what do you mean ‘finally get it together’? Get what together? We never had anything to get together,” Reggie questioned, bewildered. 

Flynn tilting her head with suspicious eyes, clarified, “I mean, you’re finally dating?”

Reggie pulled his arm out of Flynn’s grasp with wide eyes, shaking his head, “We’re not- _no._ It was just a thing, you know, a thing that happened between two friends. You know?” 

“I don’t think we know, dude. I think you’re gonna have to explain this one for us,” Willie pushed, leaning back in his chair with his arms crossed. 

“We aren’t dating! We-he just kissed my neck ‘cause, I don’t know, I was down on myself because of Kayla? It made a lot more sense in the moment, I swear.” 

“I don’t want to say that that is completely sus, but that is so sus, bro. You made out as a _confidence booster?_ No strings attached?” Willie said, raising an eyebrow.

“We didn’t make out! I just…” Reggie could feel all of his feelings waiting on the surface ready to spill. 

“Just?” Flynn asked, expectedly. 

That was all Reggie needed for his feelings to explode out of him, “I just kissed him, alright? Please don’t kill me, Flynn, but I kissed Luke once and then freaked out because I realized that I kind of, sort of liked him more than a friend. So, I ran out of his house after I kissed him but didn’t have a car, so I hid in the bushes in front of his house. Honestly, it’s a miracle he didn’t notice, but that’s beside the point because I probably have a crush on Luke. And what the fuck, right? That’s my best friend! I can’t just have feelings for him like that.”

“Reg-” Willie tried but Reggie ignored him.

“And I’ve been trying not to think about him, but my brain is constantly being reminded of him. I can’t even write a stupid English essay or read a book without thinking about how he bites the erasers of his pencils in creative comp which, by the way, shouldn’t be hot! That’s like illegal and, if it isn’t, it really should be. And, you know wha-”

Willie cut him off by grabbing Reggie’s arm, “Reggie, buddy, buddy.” 

Reggie groaned, and collapsed against the table, “Don’t look at me.” 

Flynn rubbed a comforting hand on his back, “Oh, babe, we knew it was bad, but not that bad. You hid in his bushes?” 

“Yea, yea, I did...for like twenty minutes. Luke wouldn’t go in his house for like ten minutes, and then his mom came out to water her flowers,” Reggie muttered, glumly, still resting his head on the table. 

“I’m kind of proud that you didn’t get caught somehow, but also, Reggie, dude. It would’ve been easier to talk to him at that point,” Willie said with pained sympathy. 

“Speaking of, Reggie, don’t you have rehearsal with Luke in a couple days?” Flynn asked, still trying to comfort Reggie. 

Reggie’s eyes widened and he sat up, “Would they believe me if I said I have the flu? Because I’m deciding to have the flu.” 

“Dude, Ray made sure that the whole band got their flu shots, so they wouldn’t believe you for a second,” Willie commented which earned him a glare from Flynn. 

“Shit, you’re right. Willie, quick break my arm,” Reggie held his arm out, “I won’t be mad, dude, just do it.” 

“What? Bro, I am not breaking your arm so that you can get out of talking to Luke about the kiss,” 

“I just can’t talk to Luke because...because _I_ barely even know what I’m feeling right now, and I’ll totally ruin things,” Reggie somehow said with both panic and absolute certainty. 

As Willie and Flynn continued to convince Reggie to just talk to Luke, they basically began to communicate with eyebrow raises and the occasional mouthing of words. It was decided, almost telepathically, how they were getting Reggie to that rehearsal. Some coordinating with the others and lying was required, but it would be worth it if these two idiots would just finally realize they were in love.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Confronting your feelings? Nah. Getting McDonalds with the homies? Yes.  
> I really liked writing these three's dynamic and I hope you had fun reading it!


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Last chapter for today, lovelies! I'm thinking of posting the last two chapters together in my next update, so that's super exciting! On that note, thank you guys for all the love on this fanfic. It really means a lot especially since I put probably too much time and effort into this one lmao! Anyways, I'll be seeing all you amazing people in two days <3

The plan to get the two idiots together seemed to be going according to plan from the vague texts that Alex was getting from Willie. From the updates, Alex knew that Reggie was about to be picked up by Willie for rehearsal under the guise that they were going out to get food. All Alex had to do was make sure Luke got here, and he wasn’t really worried about that. The man never missed a rehearsal unless he was half dead with sickness. Even then it was hard to convince him not to come. 

Speaking of, the man himself waltzed into the studio per usual while saying, “Hey, guys! Who’s ready to s-”

Alex, who decided that chill was no longer applicable in this situation, cut him off, “Ready to talk about how Reggie kissed you? Yes, yes, we are.” 

Luke froze, staring at his friends with a deer in the headlights expression, before practically yelling, “How did you know?!” 

Alex and Julie replied in unison, “Willie and Flynn told us.” 

_“They know?!”_ Luke yelled, panicked at the idea that everyone seemingly knew about the one thing he was keen on avoiding the thought of.

“Yup. Reggie told them and they told us,” Alex said, crossing his arms with an unimpressed expression, “Were you about to come into rehearsal acting as if nothing happened, dude?” 

“Uh, no. Totally not what I was planning on doing,” Luke suddenly had absolutely no desire to be at rehearsal anymore. Since Reggie was down with some vague sickness, Luke thought rehearsal would be a nice way to take his mind off things. _Apparently not._

Luke eyed the door, but Julie quickly interjected, “Don’t even think about leaving, Lucas. You’re gonna stay here and actually talk about it.” 

Luke’s chest tightened, and he let his words slip out without thinking, “What do you guys want me to say? Hey! Reggie kissed me, thanked me for the kiss and then sprinted out of my house like it was on fire? That sucked. Hey! Life update: I haven’t been able to stop thinking about my best friends lips for the past day! Listened to Taylor Swift because it reminded me of him.” 

Alex softened at this, “Dude, are y-“

Before Alex could finish, a yell ripped through the air followed that sounded very much like Willie.

“Was that Willie?” Luke got his answer when the garage door opened revealing a very disheveled Willie and Reggie. They both looked like they just fell down the stairs, and Willie was holding tightly to Reggie’s leather jacket. 

“Sir Reginald Peters has arrived!” Willie proudly announced despite his heavy breathing.

Reggie struggled against his grip, “You tackled me! I can’t believe you tackled me!” 

“That’s what happens when you try to sprint the second my car is parked, Reggie,” Willie pulled him into the garage and towards the couch. Reggie hit Willie's side, trying to get him to let go, but the man didn’t even seem phased by it. He plopped his friend down on the couch before heading over to his boyfriend by the piano. 

“We’re going out for lunch,” Willie said before pointing at Luke and Reggie, “If we come back and you’re not here, I will track you down and body slam you without hesitation.”

“Woah, woah, what?” Luke finally asked when his brain caught up with what the hell was happening. 

“You two are gonna talk things out, and I’m gonna go get lunch with my hot boyfriend. Any more questions?”

“No,” Reggie replied, defeated.

“Yes?!” Luke looked at Alex and Julie with desperate eyes, hoping that they would give him some sort of help. They didn’t, but it was worth a shot. Alex was quickly pulled out of the studio by Willie before he could make any comments, and Julie just patted his shoulder while mouthing sorry as she followed the others out. 

And that left the two of them alone in the garage that was now filled with an awkward, palpable silence. Luke opened and closed his mouth several times as he tried to think of something to say, but nothing came to him. 

When the silence became too much for Reggie, he stood up from the couch and ran a hand through his hair, nervously, “I can just go, actually. I dealt with one body slam from Willie. I can do it again.”

Before Reggie could make it to the door, Luke grabbed his wrist, “Reg, wait. We really should talk, you know.”

Reggie froze at the touch of cool rings against his wrist. He had to turn around and face Luke head on, but he was frozen. To actually confront the mess that has been his heart? To tell Luke about his jumbling thoughts of how his lips felt against his? It was terrifying. 

“Look at me, Reg,” Luke squeezed Reggie’s wrist to emphasize his words. 

It gave the boy enough courage to turn around, but he refused to look Luke in the eyes, “Look, I-I’m really sorry, Luke, for running out after...you know. I was just so...panicked after I, um, kissed you, but leaving was, like, so uncool of me.” 

“Hey, hey, it’s okay, Reg. I went too far with the whole, uh, trying to cheer you up thing,”’ Luke said, moving his hand and intertwining their fingers.

“I’m the one who kissed you, Luke,” Reggie said, finally looking up, confused. 

“And I’m the one who gave you a hickey. I think that's kind of even, right?”

“...I guess? How are you so chill, dude? I...I’ve been freaking for the past couple of days,” Reggie said, now trying to subtly cover the hickey with his free hand. He’d forgotten his scarf when he left his house. 

“Well, ‘cause it’s fine!” Luke sounded almost sheepish now, “If you don’t want to kiss me or anything like that again then it’s whatever, right?” 

Reggie pulled his hand out of Luke’s, taking a step back, “It’s...it’s not whatever! It’s the complete opposite, Luke! My brain has felt like it’s been on fire for the past couple of days, and you’re gonna act like nothing happened?” 

“I-”

Reggie continued on with tears blurring his eyes, “You know, I wish I could think that this was whatever. But I’m over here so confused ‘cause I shouldn’t-I can’t feel like this because you’re...you!” 

“Reg…” Luke whispered, wanting to reach out to Reggie, but stopping himself.

Tears spilled from Reggie’s eyes and he desperately wiped at the tears with his flannel sleeves, “Shit. _Shit._ I’m sorry. I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to yell...oh god, I’m sorry. I-I should go. I’m sorry.” 

Reggie turned away from Luke and walked towards the door despite the tears blurring his vision. Before he could reach the door, Reggie was stopped by a pair of strong arms wrapping around his waist from behind. The warmth of it made him cry harder, and he barely choked out the question, “Luke, what are you doing?”

“You didn’t think I’d let you leave before I said sorry, did you?” Luke asked, softly. There a pit in his stomach at being the reason why Reggie was crying, and he would do anything to get him to smile again.

Reggie let out a small, wet laugh while shaking his head, “No, of course not.” 

“Well, I’m sorry for trying to act like this didn’t matter. It’s not whatever, I was just being an idiot,” Luke held into Reggie tighter as he said this, almost scared that Reggie would run away from him again. 

“It’s okay. I’m sorry, too, Luke, I-I-”

“Shhh, you have nothing to apologize for, dude. Just take my hug apology and let it out. We can figure out the rest later,” Luke whispered before pressing closer to Reggie’s back. 

Reggie nodded, giving into the warmth and familiarity of the hug. There was something bittersweet about the touch, though. An ache neither of them wanted to acknowledge. Words unsaid under their skin. They didn’t talk about what feelings Reggie couldn’t handle, or that Luke wanted to kiss Reggie until he smiled again. Instead Luke gently guided Reggie over to the couch, let him rest his head in his lap, and did the next best thing to get Reggie to smile. He started to hum some of the Taylor Swift songs he knew Reggie liked. 

Luke was in the middle of humming the softened melody of ‘Breathe’ when a small smile laced Reggie’s lips. Closing his eyes, Reggie hummed along with Luke quietly. Without really thinking about it, Luke started to play with the boys messy black hair. The low hums and the feeling of hands fiddling gently with strands of hair were enough to lull Reggie to sleep. Crying always made him tired. 

When Luke noticed that humming had been replaced with snores, he smiled softly and fixed the strand of hair falling in front of his eyes. 

“I love you,” Luke whispered, once he was pretty sure Reggie was actually asleep. One day he’d actually have the courage to say that when Reggie could hear him. Today just wasn’t that day. They just needed some time and the right place. Luke pressed a soft kiss to Reggie’s forehead, and prayed that he would be able to love him more boldly one day.

Luke didn’t know when he had fallen asleep, but he did know that he felt cold when he woke up. Reggie, at some point, had slipped right away from him and left only a note in his place. It read ‘Hope you don’t miss me too much :( Had to go home but didn’t want to wake you. See ya later’. He tried to make out whatever had been scribbled out with sharpie after ‘didn’t want to wake you’, but could only make out the word ‘cute’. 

Setting the note back down, Luke sighed and fell back down onto the couch. Reggie had run away from him, once again, but this time he really had no clue why. Maybe it was too soon for the intimacy they had shared, and it had scared Reggie. That was probably it. With that, Luke decided that if he had to start being careful if he wanted Reggie to stay by his side. No more impulsive intimacy or just impulsivity in general. It wasn’t his style, sure, but it would be worth it if it meant Reggie would stop running. 

He closed his eyes as he sang some more Taylor Swift under his breath, wishing that there was someone there to sing along with him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I thought I should let you all know that the scribbled out part of the note said 'because you were too cute'. Reggie really is hopeless, isn't he? Though, I do like a little hurt/comfort, so here we are.   
> Btw! I really do love interaction with you guys so if you want to go check out my tumblr threeghosts-nobraincells.


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